"Chao Musheng, come take a seat." Director Wang stood up to take the tray from Chao Musheng's hands, arranging teacups before Mr. Su and Secretary Liu while ushering Chao Musheng to sit, clearly concerned about overworking his prized protégé.
"Mr. Su, please enjoy the tea." Director Wang gestured for Chao Musheng to sit beside him. "Since joining our university, Chao Musheng has not only excelled academically but also distinguished himself in every other capacity. Still, he's young and needs more opportunities to grow."
"A talent like Chao Musheng would shine anywhere," Secretary Liu remarked, noticing his boss subtly nudging the fruit platter toward Chao Musheng. Taking the hint, he added, "To be frank, Director Wang, I’d love to have Chao Musheng intern at our company. That way, when he graduates, we’d have the advantage of already knowing his capabilities."
"You flatter him too much, Secretary Liu." Director Wang’s laughter deepened the crow’s feet at his eyes. "How could someone as young as Chao Musheng compare to the elites at your company? Just learning a thing or two from your team would be invaluable for him."
The exchange was a mutual display of courtesy, each side lavishing praise to uphold the other’s dignity.
Mr. Su, in particular, was an enigma—a man who rarely made public appearances. Yet for this university anniversary event, he had shown exceptional respect.
Compared to other guests who arrived with entourages, Mr. Su’s presence, accompanied only by a single secretary, was understated. But neither the university leadership nor other attendees dared slight him for his modest retinue.
Before the tea could cool, the Principal himself hurried into the VIP lounge.
Chao Musheng had scarcely seen the Principal since starting university. Recognizing the gravity of the moment as the school’s top brass entered, he picked up his used teacup, politely excused himself, and slipped out of the lounge. Staying longer would have been inappropriate.
"That student who just left—was that Chao Musheng from the Computer Science Department?" The Principal, who remembered Chao Musheng well, casually praised his academic achievements after exchanging pleasantries with Mr. Su.
Secretary Liu was inwardly astonished. Even a titan of academia like the Principal of Jinghua University was willing to sing Chao Musheng’s praises to outsiders. Just how highly did the faculty regard this student?
Mr. Su’s gaze lingered on the fruit platter, now missing a small pear, before nodding slightly at the Principal. "Hearing Chao Musheng’s introduction today gave me a deeper appreciation for your university’s excellence. Under your leadership, Jinghua’s future is undoubtedly bright."
With those words, the Principal felt assured—the collaboration between the university and Kunlun was all but secured.
After ensuring Mr. Su’s comfort, the Principal summoned Director Wang to his office for a debrief on the day’s events.
"Chao Musheng was instrumental today," the Principal remarked with a smile after hearing Director Wang’s report. "His character and competence are beyond reproach. But what’s this about a bullying incident he mentioned?"
"There’s a student named Chen Er in the Computer Science Department—comes from a privileged background and doesn’t always mind his behavior. He recently clashed with two dormmates and received a formal warning."
"Chao Musheng came to me at noon today, saying he saw Chen Er harassing another student last night in the men’s restroom by Swan Lake." Director Wang sighed. "Unfortunately, there’s no surveillance in the restroom, so evidence will be hard to gather."
"Even without cameras, a thorough investigation can uncover the truth." The Principal’s expression hardened. "Every student here is a talent nurtured by the nation. Such behavior cannot be tolerated."
Director Wang understood the Principal’s stance. "Don’t worry, I’ll arrange a full inquiry tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Chao Musheng nibbled on the pear he’d taken from the VIP lounge’s fruit platter and headed to Cafeteria No. 5 for dinner.
"Zhou Yi, save me!" Chao Musheng slumped against Window No. 8. "I’m about to waste away into a paper cutout."
"You’ve got a performance tonight—when are you heading backstage for makeup?" Zhou Yi piled a generous scoop of meat onto Chao Musheng’s plate. "Will you make it in time?"
"The school leaders and guests are dining at 6:30, and the gala won’t start until after 8." Chao Musheng accepted the heaping plate. "Plenty of time, don’t worry."
"Chao-ge!" Zhang San and Zhao Shang entered the cafeteria, carrying milk and bread.
"Why bring food to a cafeteria?" Chao Musheng scooted over to make room as they went to order.
"Just grabbed these on the way," Zhang San said with a grin before cheerfully greeting Zhou Yi. "Zhou Yi, I’ll have the same as Chao-ge."
"Wait—were these for me?" Chao Musheng realized. "You thought I’d skip dinner?"
"During afternoon class, we overheard classmates saying you’d been too busy to eat properly today," Zhang San admitted sheepishly, accepting his loaded plate from Zhou Yi. "But since you’re eating now, we’ll save the bread for later."
Chao Musheng set his plate down. "That bread looks good—let me try a piece."
Delighted that Chao-ge liked his choice, Zhang San eagerly handed it over, even inserting a straw into the milk carton for him.
Watching Zhang San’s carefree smile, Zhao Shang lowered his gaze. He and Zhang San had survived multiple missions together, but he’d never seen Zhang San so at ease around an NPC—as if this were just an ordinary evening, free of systems, deities, or mortal peril.
As he ate, the soft chime of "+5 HP" echoed in Zhao Shang’s mind. By now, he was numb to it—around Chao Musheng, health points flowed like water.
After dinner, Chao Musheng hurried backstage with Zhang San and Zhao Shang in tow.
"Senior, I brought extra hands to help." Chao Musheng signed the attendance sheet before motioning for Zhang San and Zhao Shang to do the same.
"They’re not enrolled here," the senior noted, recognizing the two as "visiting scholars" from Room 404. "They don’t need to sign."
"They’re here for advanced studies—honorary alumni, really." Chao Musheng cheerfully passed the pen to Zhao Shang. "Sign quickly. The school gives volunteer certificates for tonight’s event—a nice keepsake."
For players, signing one’s name in a mission was a deeply ingrained taboo.
Yet Zhao Shang took the pen without hesitation and scrawled his signature.
"Bold and elegant—your handwriting’s impressive," Chao Musheng praised. Then he glanced at Zhang San’s scribble, paused, and turned away. "I’ll go queue for makeup."
Zhang San: "..."
Rather than comment on his chicken-scratch, Chao-ge had made up an excuse to leave. Truly, a saint.
"The props team needs help moving things—mind giving them a hand?" The senior didn’t strike their names from the list. "One thing to note: the left dressing room has guest performers. If you see them, don’t approach or ask for autographs."
"Alright, thanks for the reminder, senior." Zhang San responded cheerfully. "Where are the props we need to move? We can't wait to help out."
"Turn left ahead. Once you're inside, follow the instructions from the props team leader." Faced with Zhang San's charming, youthful smile, the senior didn’t give them a hard time and stood up to point the way. "You’re volunteers brought in by Chao Musheng, so I trust you’ll behave."
Zhang San thought to himself—it wasn’t them she trusted, but Chao Musheng.
This was the joy of having the right connections—wherever you went, people gave you face. Only this kind of happiness could be called steady, reliable bliss.
By the time they finished moving the props and returned, Chao Musheng had already finished his makeup and was sitting in a rest chair in his performance outfit, chatting happily with fellow students.
Zhang San finally fully believed that Chao Musheng’s so-called request for them to "guard his performance outfit" had truly just been an excuse to make Zhao Shang feel at ease about accepting his help with borrowing books.
A staff member came by to hand out milk tea, reportedly courtesy of a certain celebrity. Used to the safety of food in this instance, Zhang San didn’t hesitate—he stabbed in the straw and took a sip.
[Ding! Player has consumed an unhealthy beverage. HP -0.1.]
Huh?!
Unwilling to accept it, Zhang San took several more big gulps.
[Player has consumed an unhealthy beverage. HP -0.5.]
He knew milk tea wasn’t exactly health food, but losing 0.1 HP for one sip and 0.5 for a few big gulps was way too strict.
Truly fitting for a campus instance where all NPCs prioritized academics—the attention to detail was impeccable.
"The evening performance is about to begin. Students with earlier slots, please prepare in advance."
Zhang San noticed several students who had finished their makeup heading backstage, while Chao Musheng remained seated, leisurely sipping his milk tea. He sidled up to him and asked, "Brother Chao, why aren’t you going backstage yet?"
"My slot is later, no rush." Chao Musheng finished his drink and stood to toss the empty cup. As he did, he saw the student council senior already filling out names on honorary certificates according to the attendance sheet.
"Xiao Chao, perfect timing." The senior grabbed him. "Help me fill these out."
Chao Musheng sat down beside her. "Why the sudden rush?"
"The guest performers also want a copy as a keepsake. They came to perform for free—we can’t deny them such a small request." The senior shoved a stack of certificates into Chao Musheng’s hands. "Since we have to fill them out anyway, might as well do them all now so we don’t waste study time tomorrow."
"The school seal’s watermark isn’t even dry yet." Chao Musheng muttered under his breath. "The admin office staff must’ve been scrambling last-minute too."
"When the student council went to pick up the certificates earlier, they overheard someone getting chewed out in the admin office." The senior lowered her voice. "Avoid the admin office these next couple days if you can."
Chao Musheng pulled out two honorary certificates and neatly wrote Zhang San and Zhao Shang’s names on them before waving them over.
"Brother Chao, you called us?" Zhang San trotted over eagerly.
"These are your volunteer appreciation certificates for the school festival." Chao Musheng handed them over with a teasing smirk. "I wrote them myself—treasure them."
The certificates were thin, printed with formal thanks in bold font, with only the name fields filled in by Chao Musheng’s elegant handwriting.
Zhao Shang noticed the bright red school seal stamped at the bottom right corner.
[Ding! Congratulations on obtaining the school seal and triggering a hidden quest. Reward: Unlimited Points +100.]
[Hidden Quest: Kill your guide to claim all clearance rewards.]
"Shit!"
Zhao Shang heard Zhang San curse beside him.
